11 Ukrainians Missing after Ship Sinks off Tyre
Eleven Ukrainian sailors have gone missing from a ship which sank off Lebanon and U.N. forces with the help of Israel”s military have launched a rescue operation, Israeli officials said on Saturday.
"Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed the Israeli navy and air force to help search for missing people on the ship that sank off the coast of the Lebanese port of Tyre," the defense ministry said in a statement.
A Ukrainian crew member has so far been rescued from the cargo ship that set sail from Greece but 11 of his compatriots are still missing, it said, adding that Israeli helicopters were involved in the search.
An army spokeswoman said the Israeli military was helping the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) with the search.
The ship was headed toward the northern Israeli port of Haifa and was 80 kilometers off the Lebanese coast in international waters when it sank, she said.
A military source said the ship was believed to be Turkish but there was no immediate confirmation.
A Lebanese military spokesman confirmed to AFP that the vessel went down in international waters, saying it sank "more than 70 miles off Naqoura" on the Lebanon-Israel border.